'The case for aid? Poverty can be a catalyst for extremist views'

Philippe Douste-Blazy, special adviser to the UN secretary-general on innovative finance for development and chairman of Unitaid, the global health partnership, talks about his work

Philippe Douste-Blazy, special adviser to the secretary general of the UN and chairman of Unitaid, the global health partnership. Photograph: Christophe Morin/IP3 Photograph: Christophe Morin/IP3 press

You've had a diverse career. Tell us about it.I started out as a practising cardiologist and professor of public health at Toulouse University. I then decided to move into policy and served for a long time as a politician, first as minister of health and subsequently as minister of culture and communication, minister for solidarity, health and family, and finally as minister of foreign affairs. I am now chair of the board of Unitaid, as well as the special adviser to the secretary general of the United Nations on innovative finance for development.

Where did your interest in development come from?I would say, however, that the most defining moment of my career – and one that moved me towards working in development – was a conversation I had with President Chirac while I was a minister. He told me the most important thing in the world today for politicians is to care about the 1.5 billion people who have nothing. Why? Obviously for ethical and moral reasons, but also for political reasons. As the world becomes more and more interconnected, inequality is increasingly a breeding ground for conflict. If I imagine myself as an 18-year-old in a developing country, seeing my family die from malaria because the world could not give them less than a pound while knowing that in London or Paris a couple may spend £100 on dinner, I can understand how poverty can be a catalyst for extremist views.

What does Unitaid do?In 2005, Unitaid began with a simple idea: to add one euro to plane tickets to raise funds for increasing access to treatments and diagnostics for HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis. We were established in 2006 by the governments of Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the United Kingdom, but we are now supported by an expanding membership, including organisations from the global south. We fund 17 projects that target under-served markets in 94 countries.

As a global health initiative that champions innovative financing, our own financing mechanism is quite unique. Roughly half of our resources come from government and foundation contributions, while the other half comes from our levy on plane tickets. The second striking thing about Unitaid is the governance model. We decided that we could not continue with traditional governance structures that saw a complete disconnect between NGOs and politicians. So our executive board consists of 12 members: a representative from each of our founding members, one representative for Africa, Asia, foundations, the World Health Organisation, and – importantly – two from civil society organisations.

What is your vision for your organisation?While we're an organisation based on a small levy tax on plane tickets, our vision is much bigger than this one initiative. We are a laboratory for innovative financing and we want to prove to the international community that our concept is modern and produces concrete results. We want to show that innovative financing models can help us reach – and go beyond – the millennium development goals.

What is the future of development?There is an urgent need for new sources of innovative financing because we have a serious financial problem in development. On the one hand, we have increasing needs in the developing world and, on the other hand, a decrease in official development aid as OECD countries are affected by the financial crisis. What we are seeing is a scissor effect: rising loss of jobs in developed countries and rising mortality rate in developing countries. We cannot continue like this.

We need to address this, first, by finding new innovative sources of financing, of which the levy on plane tickets is just one example. Second, we need to make governments and the public understand that the poor of today can become the economic actors of tomorrow.

What makes a good development leader?First, a good development leader has to be global, in both their awareness and their outlook. Second, it is crucial that they understand that the poor are in both the developing and the developed world. Third, it is very important to be charismatic because you have to be able to mobilise public opinion as well as put pressure on heads of state.

Who's work has inspired you?I have been really inspired by the example of the UK and its commitment to maintaining the 0.7% level of aid in the face of widespread cuts. Coming from a political background, I can really appreciate that while you may speak at international forums about the issue of global development and poverty, it is very difficult to get traction on this when you come back to your country and face pressure to prioritise domestic issues. The UK should be celebrating its commitment, and the international community should be following its example.

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